


Too gorgeous for words.

by Yui_Miyamoto



Category: Battery (Anime)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on LiveJournal, M/M, バッテリー
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27093346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yui_Miyamoto/pseuds/Yui_Miyamoto
Summary: After being told he was hated, Kadowaki goes to visit Mizugaki to get the story straight…
Relationships: Kadowaki Shuugo/Mizugaki Shunji
Kudos: 2





	Too gorgeous for words.

**Disclaimer: Battery belongs to Asano Atsuko-sensei.**

“This is the third time you’ve come here since that game with Hime-san.” 

Mizugaki’s right hand openly curls into a fist, but soon unravels when he looks at Kadowaki, disturbed that the usually composed, yet oblivious captain of their baseball team appears frazzled. Without a direct word, the captain’s eyes always convey so much, revealing the obvious.  
Or at least to him it is.

_How wonderful to be this genuine._

Unable to stand even seconds of silence, Mizugaki fills in the blank spaces quickly. “Why are you even running by my house? Ah, I forgot you’re the type to make work for yourself when you’re bored.”  
“Will you ever put down your knife against me?” Kadowaki places his hand nervously onto the back of his head.  
“I don’t think so.”  
“Well, come on and bring your bike. Let’s go for a ride. We haven’t done that in a while.”  
“Now?” Tilting his head vaguely, Mizugaki pops inside his house to say he’ll be back soon.

With the chains of their bikes clinking away and the wind passing through their ears, Mizugaki takes a deep refreshing breath. It’s been a while since they’ve done anything just for the heck of it. Today he’ll get to enjoy the sunset without rushing from one thing to another. 

Overhead, the orange waves are so thick it’s as if the water and sky transposed themselves. They swallow the amber, honey-colored sphere only to become shimmering tides of candy apple red before cooling into smooth plum.  
Underneath this dazzling sight, the two boys are running away from the light and into the imminent darkness gradually spreading above and all around them.

Alongside the river, Kadowaki leads the both of them far enough that the river is surrounded by nothing but soft grass, free of cement and safety railings. The houses are farther spaced apart, just enough for them to gain a corner of privacy.  
Dropping their bikes at the top of the small hill, they run down to come to a stop at the muddy border.  
“Why come all the way here when you could have just told me at home?” Mizugaki squats, searching for stones and avoiding Kadowaki’s intrusive gaze.  
“So that you can shout out all you want.”

_Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?_

Mizugaki’s eyebrows knit in confusion, but in a blink, his face completely erases the shock. After all, Kadowaki can’t see his expressions. He’s standing a few feet behind, but feels the tall boy staring into his back.

“Do you really hate me?”

This isn’t what he came here to say, but it rolls off his tongue without repercussions. Kadowaki can’t stop obsessing over that conversation. It disconcerts him to the point that he hasn’t slept for several days, but acts as if nothing is amiss at school.  
It cracked something deep inside of him. More than when Harada’s ball whizzed past him with shock, frustration, and fear passing along inside that pitch.

With Mizugaki though, it’ll always be a special circumstance. In any light. In any situation. 

**The person who haunted me wasn’t Harada. It was you, Shun.  
You couldn’t have possibly meant what you said to me, right?**

**Those couldn’t be your true thoughts. I don’t want to believe it!**

Mizugaki stands up with several pebbles in his hand and starts throwing them. Though he can’t see them in the semi-darkness, he clearly hears each one kiss the surface of the water.  
Plipplipplipplipplop.  
The last stone drowns to the bottom. With a grimace on his face, he remains standing in place with the water lazily drifting by.  
“Well that one didn’t go as far as I thought it would,” he comments in an afterthought.

Kadowaki sighs, wanting to demand an answer from this fortress before him.

**I didn’t look hard enough, did I? Is that why I never know what to do with you no matter how long it’s been?  
Did you want me to see more? Was I supposed to?**

“Why did you have to say you never showed me your real self? We’ve known each other since we were little.” The shadow of distress hangs in between his words and he isn’t ashamed to show it.  
“We’ve been around each other since then, haven’t we?” Mizugaki puts his hands into his pockets and looks up to the flickering sky. “So even if I run away, I wouldn’t be able to.”  
“From baseball?” Blinking, the truth is settling in before Kadowaki’s mind can clasp onto the prospect of it being something else.

 **Or me?**

Turning around, Mizugaki runs his fingers unsteadily through his hair and stops to hold onto his neck. “Your simple-mindedness is a blessing and a curse. You can only focus wholly on one thing until you’re satisfied. You ignore everything else in between.”  
Kadowaki is about to open his mouth when Mizugaki puts his hand down and takes a step towards him. 

“Somehow, you’re able to block out what other people’s reactions are to you. That’s why you weren’t even aware of Enomoto’s shoulder. Then again, not everyone would’ve picked that up so I can’t count that against you.”  
“Are you saying I’m inconsiderate of others?” Kadowaki snaps back in irritation.  
Mizugaki looks him straight in the eye in a way that boils among contempt, relentlessness, and high esteem. It’s so intense that Kadowaki steps back by the power of its purity.

In that transparent split second, he catches a spark of agony behind all the cruel words.

**Shun…**

“I hate you for this. Exactly for moments like this!” Mizugaki points down to the ground, shouting more than he meant to. This unfamiliar, wild voice perplexes him, but he doesn’t show it.  
“Well, what _is_ it then?”  
“I’ve been watching you since we were little. You take care of your batting while I work on organizing everything else in your games. Yes, your games.”  
“But you’re good at it.”  
“Yes, I am.”  
“And as a short stop too.”  
“I know.” He nods. Whether it’s in self-mockery or acknowledgment, he gives no hints of his reticent thoughts. “But I’m exhausted, Shuugo.”  
“Then why did you stay?”

It’s Mizugaki’s turn to sigh. He’s at a complete loss over what connects them together beyond baseball: Hatred, rivalry, and friendship.

“The hope.”  
Without saying anything more, he positions himself like Kadowaki when he steps up to the plate. In a flash, Kadowaki sees himself transforming into fight mode: Knees bending low, squaring his arms for the swing, eyeing the pitcher to will the ball towards his bat. He’s ready to hear the familiar crack of the ball against the wood.

To him, it’s one of the most glorious sounds to ever pass between his ears.

Like a movie playing out before him, Kadowaki watches Mizugaki become him on the imaginary home base, swinging the bat artfully. 

**Is this how Shun really sees me?**

He suddenly feels humbled at the demonstrative confession.

“You have no idea how many times…how many different angles I’ve seen you bat. The true power of your swing. How it elegantly makes the ball go so high that even the sun couldn’t block it.” Mizugaki shakes his head regretfully. “You only see what you can do, but aren’t truly aware of who’s around you. You’re a good teammate, but you only love baseball. Everything else is just extra, as long you get to play. It really doesn’t matter who’s with you.”

_I realized it the very instant you came to my house to talk about Hime-san: You didn’t need me. I wasn’t the one who stimulated you to play._

__

__

_We’ve been on the same team for so long, you’ve lost all sense of me._

“Is that why you’ve been mad at me?” Kadowaki looks at him, unable to comprehend everything at once. After all, he’d originally come to talk to him to see if he could convince him to do baseball in high school. Maybe they could share the field even if they weren’t wearing the same uniform.  
But his feelings steered the conversation far from what he’d come three nights in a row to say.

_There are those who have the talent but don’t care for it. There are those who do and it comes so naturally, they can’t imagine life otherwise. It is in the essence of every breath they take._

__

__

_I know that, but you…_

Without thinking, Mizugaki reaches out for Kadowaki’s collar. Caught off guard and being pulled with such force, Kadowaki instinctively holds onto Mizugaki’s head when they both tumble to the ground. Mizugaki is still holding onto the cotton fabric even as he finds himself sitting on top of Kadowaki’s stomach, unforgiving that the latter is wincing and biting his lower lip from the lingering bruise he’d punched into him.

Letting go of his hand on the smooth hair, Kadowaki starts to cough and cringes, ignoring the surges of pain when he observes Mizugaki’s desperate expression. His fingers blindly grip onto the grass and dirt for some sense of control. 

**I never wanted to see that look on your face. I don’t know what you want me to do…**

****

****

**_Why don’t you get it?_**

__

__

__

__

_Of course I couldn’t show you my true self! You never bothered to look closely.  
You have the ability to motivate people with your talent! I only went along because I wanted to see it. And every time I tried to walk away, you’d show me something new and I yearned to see more. The excitement of what how’d you’d change the pace of the game, the skill of your swing…  
You freely gave that feeling to everyone around you. _

_It’s the closest to what passion must taste like…_

“I’m tired of taking care of your ego!”

_For admiring your talent that you couldn’t even appreciate!_

“I’m tired of smoothing out all the holes in your ideas! I’m not your servant!”

_I made every plan we created all look so easy that you only had to concentrate on batting!_

“I’m tired of pretending to be your friend!”

_Not once did you ever notice all my effort so that you could shine! Without thinking, I’d spoiled you. And before I knew it, all you thought of was your Hime-san striking you out!_

__

__

_So now I have to compete against Baseball AND Hime-san?! I hate you, Shuugo…  
DAMN IT ALL!_

“I’m sorry, Shun.” 

Silence.

Holding his tattered pride, Mizugaki tries with all his might to stop himself from letting the hurt drip out of his eyes.  
Kadowaki continues to look up in sincere regret, instinctively knowing it’s him who planted this deep-seeded doubt inside the person closest to him in all the world. Mizugaki’s quivering hands sends shocks to his very core, close enough to shattering it all together. “Hit me if it’ll make you feel better.” 

“I can’t,” Mizugaki’s voice breaks. The heaviness in his chest bunches up into a twisted ball of yarn.  
“I never explained why I insisted we play together, did I?” Kadowaki’s tone is low and contemplative.  
His fingers loosen their grip, but Mizugaki’s lips stay closed.

Kadowaki’s gaze softens as his voice brightens, recalling a treasured memory. “Remember that time I saw you throw the ball all the way to first base like it was no one’s business? You were only pretending then but when you threw it, I vividly saw it in front of me. Our eyes landed on the same spot on where it should have been. Then we looked at each other and laughed. I’ll never forget that.” 

**That look of delight on your face relishing what you had yet to accomplish…  
I’m starting to forget how you smile because you’re always angry with me.**

“I don’t care how many times I’ve seen it up close, but I go to every game wondering if I’ll see that face again.” Smiling, Kadowaki’s pulse increases from his own honesty.

Mizugaki’s eyes widen in surprise and then he puts his hand over his eyes, shaking his head from side to side. “You…”

_You’re doing it all over again._

Undeterred, Kadowaki continues, “You may not be the pitcher throwing the ball to me, but I’m always watching how you play.”

_Why do you do this to me?_

Frustrated, Mizugaki stands up as Kadowaki slowly does so as well.  
“You’re the first person to believe in my swing.”  
“So what are you getting at?”  
“Play. Take the scholarship so that we can meet again on the field.”  
“I told you already. I want some years of doing nothing.”

_To get away from you. Or at least put some distance between us and far enough from your grasp…_

Determined, Kadowaki places his hand on Mizugaki’s shoulder and pleads, “Give me a reason to go out there.”

_You don’t need one, Shuugo._

“You just keep me hanging on…” Mizugaki mumbles under his breath, but Kadowaki can’t hear him.  
“Don’t be stupid. There are other short stops out there.”

_You just pretend to think you need me because we’ve always been together._

“They are not you.” Squeezing his shoulder, Kadowaki can’t seem to get through the barrier. “I always enjoyed you watching me play. For someone so perceptive, didn’t you ever see me glancing back at you whenever I swung at the plate?”  
Now he is the one being scolded as Kadowaki shakes his head at him. 

_I wanted to finally leave…To set myself free…_

He lets go of his shoulder and holds out his hand out towards him. “Come play with me again, Shun. Please.”  
Again, he’s sucked into the charismatic eyes of this selfish, gifted child. That look of innocent expectation that never fails to pull him despite all his better judgments. 

_When will I ever learn? When will you let me get over you?_

Mizugaki holds out his hand to shake that very hand he’d tried so hard to let go of… 

_I know very well I lashed out at Kaionji because of envy…  
Hime-san, you wouldn’t ever play with anyone else, would you? You and your catcher wouldn’t ever replace one another because you see each other eye-to-eye._

Once more, looking directly into those eyes, Mizugaki inwardly sighs in disappointment.

_The very opposite of this guy. He doesn’t value me at all._

**+/+/+/+/+/+/+/**

Days later…  
Calling Mizugaki on his cell phone, Kadowaki appears and corners him, hugging him from behind in a joking manner. “I hear we’ll be meeting out in the field.”  
“Gosh, our mothers already talked? And why do you always appear out of nowhere?! Are you following me?”

Kadowaki smiles to himself, thankful to whomever that he hasn’t been left behind.

Walking side-by-side, Shun glimpses at him and muses aloud, “What are you grinning at?”  
Kadowaki gives him a side glance and for a moment, thinks about his response. He stops walking and chuckles. “Maybe you _are_ right.”  
“About what?”  
“That I must be a masochist.”  
“Where the heck did that come from?” Scratching his head, Mizugaki walks ahead of him. “Since we’re here, let’s…”

Kadowaki carefully regards that confident back all over again…

**/”Wow...”**

****

****

**Under the tenacious summer sun and in between the persistent humidity, he stares at the red-brownish haired beauty playing with their plastic baseball at the corner of the large sandbox bordering the children’s playground. He found himself avidly watching in awe at how cool the kid was.**

**But the most contagious part was the ecstatic face that put the sun to shame. It’s so beguiling that he selfishly wanted it all to himself.**

**How could he get that kid’s attention?**

**A few days passed and their mothers introduced them to one another in preschool. The kid from the park playground hid behind their mother. The stunning beauty wasn’t a girl at all! It’s a boy!**

**“Hi…” The red-brownish head peeked one eye from his mother’s lean leg under the flared cyan dress. “…my name is Mizugaki Shunji.”**

**But outside at the yard, Mizugaki came alive. Pointing his plastic bat at him, the red-head’s true personality appeared. “If you don’t keep up with me, I’m going to leave you behind! Hmph!”  
Carrying the bat over his shoulder, he started to walk away with that air of complete self-assurance.  
Then, he looked back at Kadowaki with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “But your swing’s awesome.”**

**Sitting on the dirt ground, his jaw dropped from Mizugaki’s strength. However, Kadowaki’s cheeks burned for a quite a while after that…  
…searing straight into his heart./**

Kadowaki will never admit that he’s always enjoyed Shun’s playfully upset face whenever he got stirred up.

**Why can’t I leave him alone?**

Mizugaki points at a fast-food restaurant and glances back at him, almost teasing with a brief, yet bold smirk.

**It’s that. That very expression always reels me in…  
Too gorgeous for words.**

**Owari. / The End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Wow…a story with boys who have strong friendships (and aren’t blatantly paired together) that piqued my interest!  
> Seriously, I enjoyed this anime so much, especially these two characters! (I was sold the moment Mizugaki said ‘Koibito’ and ‘Hime-san’ in that sarcastic tone of his.) Mizugaki and Kadowaki have such a dynamic that’s multi-colored and layered, I was instantly inspired to write for them by the second time they appeared on the screen!  
> I actually just wanted to capture a deeper glimpse of their friendship, their mutual admiration and rivalry for one another. But the more I wrote, this deep feeling of love (friendship bordering on romantic) revealed itself so I just went along with it.
> 
> I never thought walking miles by that river in the Peach Boy countryside would someday be used in a fic. XD Ah, life is so funny that way. Okayama-ken is special to me for many reasons. Now I can add Battery to that list.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this because I really loved making it!
> 
> Love,  
> Yui


End file.
